by Zack Beauchamp
Elias Isquith questions the by-now standard framing:
Yes, Romney was pulled to the Right by Santorum; but there’s something about that framing that implies Romney, in a Santorum-less world, would not have had to make a similar journey in order to secure enough delegates. Barring a scenario in which Romney runs unopposed (or, just as unlikely, as the rightmost candidate) I see no reason to conclude there was something special about my former Senator. If it wasn’t Santorum, it would’ve been someone else. Because, really, all Santorum did was stand as a simulacrum of conservatism for the wide swathe of the GOP base that never liked Romney and never believed he wasn’t, deep-down, a damned pragmatist.
The Dish 